'I FEEL DISRESPECTED'

Andreas Christensen is getting down to the job of breaking into the first-team

Who is Andreas Christensen and where does he come from?

Born in Lillerod, Denmark, Christensen’s footballing ability was apparent from the age of two as he would constantly kick a ball around his parents’ house.

When he was four Christensen joined Birkerod, a youth side who were based in Copenhagen – although his father, Sten, a goalkeeper at Brondby, had to lie about his son’s age as clubs in Denmark only accept players from the age of five.

Over the next six years Christensen would continue his development, often while playing as a striker. At the age of 10 he made a decision about his future and asked his father if he could join him at Brondby.

“I said yes, you can go out there,” Sten said. “We took him there to play and one of the coaches there, John Ranum, he said: “We see Andreas as a six but we would need to teach him to defend so we can put him down as a centre back so he can defend a bit more.

“When he was very young he played as a striker, a right winger and he also played left-back. He can still play in a lot of positions. His strength is in reading the game. He got good at it quickly and that was it.”

Andreas Christensen has been featuring for Chelsea in pre-season after returning from loan in Germany

Christensen would go from strength to strength as he honed his craft as a centre-back. Aston Villa were one of the first English clubs to spot the young Dane but it wasn’t long until European football’s biggest clubs came knocking.

Chelsea won the race for Christensen’s signature. The then 15-year-old joined the Blues in February 2012 and would earn a reported £20,000-a-week at Stamford Bridge.

During his time in the Blues youth system he would win the FA Youth Cup and the UEFA Youth League. He would also lift the Professional Development League with the club’s Under-21 side.

Christensen’s rapid progress was rewarded with a professional debut in October 2014.

Aston villa new boy John Terry is ideally placed to comment on Andreas Christensen after seeing the Dane progress as a youngster at Stamford Bridge

He played 90 minutes in 2-1 win over Shrewsbury Town in the League Cup and would go on to make a further two appearances under Jose Mourinho during the 2014/15 campaign.

In the summer of 2015 Christensen was a wanted man. Several European clubs were interested in signing the young centre-back and it was Bundesliga outfit Borussia Mönchengladbach who won the race for his signature.

He signed a two-year loan deal with the club and, after a shaky league debut in which Gladbach conceded four goals to Borussia Dortmund, would go on to become key part of the starting XI.

Christensen would make 39 appearances in all competitions during the 2015/16 season and produced several outstanding performances.

Andreas Christensen is hoping he will finally became a Chelsea first-teamer

He helped Gladbach keep a clean sheet in the Juventus Stadium in the Champions League and scored twice in a 5-1 win over Werder Bremen.

His performances during the season were so impressive that Chelsea and Antonio Conte attempted to cut short Christensen’s loan. However, Gladbach, unsurprisingly, didn’t want to lose the Denmark international and he remained at Borussia-Park.

It turned out to be the right decision for both clubs and the player. Christensen’s game improved yet again and the likes of Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Manchester City were all linked with the centre-back during the 2016/17 campaign.

Where is his most likely destination this summer?

Christensen is currently on pre-season tour with Chelsea and Blues boss Conte is a known fan. So it’s expected he will remain with the Premier League champions this season and fight for his place in the side.

The only sticking point may be Denmark qualifying for next summer’s World Cup in Russia and a lack of first-team football could damage his chances of starting for his country.

“He reminds me of Franz Beckenbauer,” Denmark manager Åge Hareide said last season. “He still has work to do to reach him – in his playing style – because he’s really relaxed and elegant. It almost looks like he could be playing in a suit.”